If you want the recipe for a sold out show at The Joint inside the Hard Rock Hotel and Casino, it appears it would be a good idea to take one of the hottest modern rock acts, combined with a legend from classic rock, and one of the biggest hair-bands of all time. This may seem like a dream line-up, but this is exactly what went down on May19th, 2018 when POISON joined forces with CHEAP TRICK and POP EVIL.
POP EVIL opened this triple bill with vocalist Leigh Kakaty humorously seeming to know his place on the bill when he said, "for those who came out for Cheap Trick and Poison, thanks for taking in some new rock as well". Leigh may have been well understating Pop Evil’s place on this bill, as they have grown to recently become one of the hottest and most radio played acts in modern rock. “Waking the Lions” from the new self-titled album is one of the most played songs on rock radio today, and this was evidenced by the loud crowd reaction it received, even from the older fans in the large crowd.
Legendary classic rockers CHEAP TRICK were up second on the bill, and many in the crowd were talking about how they were happy to cross this one off their bucket list of best bands to see. Even those not as familiar with their entire catalogue were more than exited to hear the classic songs at the end of the set such as “The Flame”, “Surrender”, “Dream Police”, and “I Want You to Want Me”. Rick Neilson and Robin Zander continue to be two of the largest icons from their era is Zander’s voice still sounds amazing and Neilson continues to entertain a crowd like no other after all those years in the business.
Hair-Band legends POISON are a band that have never officially split up, but all you hear these days is how great it is to see the original four of Brett Michaels, C.C. Deville, Bobby Dahl, and Rikki Rocket back together again on stage. They have been on more of a hiatus, with Brett doing more of his solo act over the last ten years, but boy was the wait worth it to see Poison all together again. This was only the second night of the tour, but the boys looked like a well-oiled hair-band machine. If you were a fan of the hand-band era like I was, Poison reminds you of all the reasons you were. The tour is billed as Nothing but a Good Time 2018, I can think of no better words here to describe just what Poison brought to The Joint on this evening!
This tour had a little bit of everything from each genre, and I think this contributed to the huge crowd. I know it is only May, but concert of the year for 2018 may have just been locked up!
Poison Photos by Harold Mountain / JustAFanPhotos
Cheap Trick Photos by Harold Mountain / JustAFanPhotos
Pop Evil Photos by Harold Mountain / JustAFanPhotos